Samsung launches three different flavors of its Galaxy Tab 3

How big do you want the screen to be?

Samsung has introduced three different sizes of the Galaxy Tab 3 in the hopes that there's at least one that fits you just right. The company announced today that its US customers will be able to buy a 7-inch tablet for $199, an 8-inch option for $299, or 10.1-inch option for $399.

Samsung writes that the "portfolio" of tablets is supposed to offer consumers "more options," but one could also view the move as the company hedging its bets. With a 7-inch model, for instance, Samsung can compete head-to-head with the ever-popular Asus Nexus 7 while also offering varying sizes for those who might want a larger form factor—or a choice over other similarly sized Android tablets.

Your choice is not limited to screen size, however. The Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 will feature a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 8GB of storage with expandable memory, a 1024×600 resolution TFT display, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The 8-inch variant features slightly better specifications, with an Exynos 1.5GHz dual-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM, a 1280×800 resolution TFT display, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, as well as a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and 16GB of storage. The last of the family of new tablets borrows from each of its siblings, sporting the same resolution as the 8-inch Galaxy Tab 3 and the same camera specifications as the 7-inch model. The biggest difference is its Intel Z2560 1.6GHz dual-core processor, though it only has 1GB of RAM.

In an attempt to win you over, Samsung is also packing each device with extras. Each of the Galaxy Tab 3 devices will come with preloaded content and Galaxy Perks, like a $10 voucher for buying apps, books, movies, and music through Google Play; one year of free Boingo hotspot service; three free months of Hulu Plus; and two years of Dropbox with 50GB of storage.

All three Wi-Fi only tablets will be available in white and what Samsung is calling "gold brown" beginning July 7, with preorders for the devices starting tomorrow at participating retailers.

The comparable Galaxy tabs have consistently been slightly worse than the Nexus devices with identical or higher prices. I wonder how much Sammy just banks on Google not advertising the Nexus products much.

I picked a refurb Tab 2 7" for $140 for my 7 yr old daughter in January over getting her a Nexus 7 like my wife and I. I needed to be able to put a bunch of episodes of My Little Pony on it for trips, camping, etc. It's still a good tablet buy if you need an SD card slot. Touchwiz sucks though.

The Tab 3 is barely faster than the Tab 2 and the screen rez is no better. Not much of a bump. Save yourself $60 and get a refurb Tab 2 instead.

A Nook HD might be a good buy in this category also. And the Nook HD+ if you like the larger 9" size. Especially if you don't mind rooting and a bit of fiddling.

Hopefully one of their meatballs will stick to the wall! But to be honest, I think they should've released 3 more sizes at 7.5", 8.5" and 10.5". Certain body sizes and hand sizes fit in between the inches better and would appreciate this extra innovation.

I am feeling like Samsung is stuck in the late XX century PC mentality. If we offer enough variations of the same mediocre hardware with slightly different specs and different model names consumers will buy it. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he killed this idea. Oh, I admit it took a while to do it, but he did. You can get an iPhone, iPod Touch, two iPads, two MacBook Airs, four MacBooks, two iMacs, two Mac Minis, and one Mac Pro. They are configurable, but that covers it. Almost all PC makers are shrinking except Apple. Tablets are PCs these days.

Not only do the specs lose against the comparable Nexus tablets, but you're rolling the dice on updates and getting stuck with Samsung's UI skins. By and large you're better off with stock Android now unless there's some compelling unique hardware (like the Note devices and their pen/digitizer).

I am feeling like Samsung is stuck in the late XX century PC mentality. If we offer enough variations of the same mediocre hardware with slightly different specs and different model names consumers will buy it. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he killed this idea. Oh, I admit it took a while to do it, but he did. You can get an iPhone, iPod Touch, two iPads, two MacBook Airs, four MacBooks, two iMacs, two Mac Minis, and one Mac Pro. They are configurable, but that covers it. Almost all PC makers are shrinking except Apple. Tablets are PCs these days.

Err. Have you looked at Dell, HP, Asus lately? I mean sure, Apple is like that, but it's not exactly industry standard. Maybe if you only buy Apple you could get that impression, but choice/confusion is alive and well elsewhere. (I've been looking around to see what's available in laptops with Haswell lately, so rather familiar with the selection.) Apple has the mindshare, but not a majority of the market either.

They are not offering a choice of screen sizes they just have a hand full of different tablets that they are trying to brand the same even though they are completely schizophrenic about the specifications.

2 based on ARM processors and 1 on an Intel processor. The 10 inch tablet has the same resolution as the 8 inch tablet and will be really low dpi and less memory than 8 inch tablet.It also seems to have poorer camera as it is the same as the 7 inch tablet. There is no logical progression or sane reasoning behind the specs of these tablet.

None of them seem all that appealing compared a Nexus 7 or any number of other tablets out there. Personally I picked up a Nook HD+ and haven't rooted it yet but did install an "extras" pack that enables side loading apps and installs another launcher. The only thing that still bugs me about it is that there are some apps on the Play store that show themselves as being incompatible for no apparent reason but seem to work fine when sideloaded or loaded from the Amazon app store. I'll probably try running CM 10.1 on it soon because it can run completely from the SD card and decide if it is worth installing on the built in flash..

I am feeling like Samsung is stuck in the late XX century PC mentality. If we offer enough variations of the same mediocre hardware with slightly different specs and different model names consumers will buy it. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he killed this idea. Oh, I admit it took a while to do it, but he did. You can get an iPhone, iPod Touch, two iPads, two MacBook Airs, four MacBooks, two iMacs, two Mac Minis, and one Mac Pro. They are configurable, but that covers it. Almost all PC makers are shrinking except Apple. Tablets are PCs these days.

Err. Have you looked at Dell, HP, Asus lately? I mean sure, Apple is like that, but it's not exactly industry standard. Maybe if you only buy Apple you could get that impression, but choice/confusion is alive and well elsewhere. (I've been looking around to see what's available in laptops with Haswell lately, so rather familiar with the selection.) Apple has the mindshare, but not a majority of the market either.

Apple does have a majority of the profits. Market size is not everything.

The 7.0 and 10.1 are horrible looking products, considering what they're competing against. The 7.0 doesn't even hold water against the current Nexus 7, let alone the expected refresh, I think it's a processor bump from the old one (probably explains why it's still running the same OS too).

The 8.0 looks kind of interesting though, I've was in the market for a slightly larger tablet than the 7 without being a 10 but such products didn't really exist. It sounds odd, but I have large hands and find the 7" just a bit too small. However when I bought my Nexus 7, I was really into the Note 8. The resolution was tolerable (although not great, it'd be so much nicer with something over 220ppi), I didn't care about the pen and the hardware was pretty snappy but the price was absurd. This looks like a slightly stripped down version of that tablet, which I probably would have bought at the time if it was available.

The hardware is just a bit lacking though, presumably it's a exynos 4212 rather than a 5 series chip, which would have made this a pretty good product. But it's just too easy to get a Nexus 7 and wait for someone to bring out a product that's a similar product in a 8" body at a good price.

Hopefully one of their meatballs will stick to the wall! But to be honest, I think they should've released 3 more sizes at 7.5", 8.5" and 10.5". Certain body sizes and hand sizes fit in between the inches better and would appreciate this extra innovation.

I wonder if you think this way because Steve Jobs thought one size fits the need of the entire humanity? One would think that the more options the better but apparently there are some people who think different (pun intended).

No need to be arrogant. These are not the only tablet models that Samsung offers. They also have models with the highest screen resolutions on the planet. Just buy those. On the other hand, many people need cheaper devices for children etc.

No need to be arrogant. These are not the only tablet models that Samsung offers. They also have models with the highest screen resolutions on the planet. Just buy those. On the other hand, many people need cheaper devices for children etc.

Where's Samsung's high res 7" tablet?

Also, the highest res one is the one Google ordered from them. Also the only tablet Samsung sell with Exynos 5 chips (their own chips). Samsung really confuse me sometimes.

I tried the Tab previously and it was a complete mess, and it looks like they are setting themselves up for that again. Why would you release a different version of an OS on each device? This is one of the core stupidities of Android... these devices are already fragmented, and they aren't even out yet.

Funny thing about the 3 months of free Hulu... Good luck watching all of Hulu on it since Android doesn't support Flash anymore. On my Surface, it's not an issue because it has Flash built-in. So I can watch Hulu in my web browser just like a regular computer. </snark>

Funny thing about the 3 months of free Hulu... Good luck watching all of Hulu on it since Android doesn't support Flash anymore. On my Surface, it's not an issue because it has Flash built-in. So I can watch Hulu in my web browser just like a regular computer. </snark>

Why would that stop anyone? The Hulu app even says works on Android 2.3+. Looks like they are either using HTML5, or some kind of translation API or something not related to Flash.

No need to be arrogant. These are not the only tablet models that Samsung offers. They also have models with the highest screen resolutions on the planet. Just buy those. On the other hand, many people need cheaper devices for children etc.

Where's Samsung's high res 7" tablet?

Also, the highest res one is the one Google ordered from them. Also the only tablet Samsung sell with Exynos 5 chips (their own chips). Samsung really confuse me sometimes.

No need to be arrogant. These are not the only tablet models that Samsung offers. They also have models with the highest screen resolutions on the planet. Just buy those. On the other hand, many people need cheaper devices for children etc.

Where's Samsung's high res 7" tablet?

Also, the highest res one is the one Google ordered from them. Also the only tablet Samsung sell with Exynos 5 chips (their own chips). Samsung really confuse me sometimes.

I am feeling like Samsung is stuck in the late XX century PC mentality. If we offer enough variations of the same mediocre hardware with slightly different specs and different model names consumers will buy it. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he killed this idea. Oh, I admit it took a while to do it, but he did. You can get an iPhone, iPod Touch, two iPads, two MacBook Airs, four MacBooks, two iMacs, two Mac Minis, and one Mac Pro. They are configurable, but that covers it. Almost all PC makers are shrinking except Apple. Tablets are PCs these days.

Err. Have you looked at Dell, HP, Asus lately? I mean sure, Apple is like that, but it's not exactly industry standard. Maybe if you only buy Apple you could get that impression, but choice/confusion is alive and well elsewhere. (I've been looking around to see what's available in laptops with Haswell lately, so rather familiar with the selection.) Apple has the mindshare, but not a majority of the market either.

That is exactly my point. Apple is making a profit because their marketing strategy and product work together. Everyone else in the PC space is losing with the same old approach and this latest tablet roll-out is the same old approach. BTW, Apple owns 59% of the tablet market in the USA and 40 percent globally. PC companies need to stop confusing the consumer and realize they are selling a commodity product just like fast food. They need to simplify their menus and focus on product quality and experience. Do that and you make a buck, like Apple or Wendy's.

Funny thing about the 3 months of free Hulu... Good luck watching all of Hulu on it since Android doesn't support Flash anymore. On my Surface, it's not an issue because it has Flash built-in. So I can watch Hulu in my web browser just like a regular computer. </snark>

Why would that stop anyone? The Hulu app even says works on Android 2.3+. Looks like they are either using HTML5, or some kind of translation API or something not related to Flash.

Otherwise, why would they offer it?

The issue is that a large portion of the Hulu catalog is web only, meaning you cannot access it via an App. This is part of the content distribution agreements that Hulu has.

A lot bigger than 10", that's for sure! In the phone space, the Note II is 38% larger than Apple's largest offering (in terms of linear dimension). So I'd say Samsung should be offering an 8" tablet (iPad Mini competitor), a 10" tablet (iPad competitor), and a 13.5" tablet (39% bigger than the largest iPad, blowing away the competition). Come on Samsung, don't give up on releasing the Next Big Thing!!

Florence Ion / Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.